ML'S MEDIA MUSINGS

1. Proof that football fans will watch anything (or that gambling and fantasy are bigger than ever): The average viewership for the awful "Monday Night Football" game between the Vikings and Giants was 13.24 million – in line with MNF's season average. Even ESPN play-by-play man Mike Tirico conceded that the quality of play was "terrible" in the third quarter. He was being kind.

2. I'm not sure what to make of Sage Steele becoming the host of ESPN's "NBA Countdown." Many complained that the show lacked a true host who could set up the analysts; Steele has plenty of experience in that regard. But if you're trying to be different, do you want a traditional host?

3. The Grambling State University officials who fired the online editor of the student newspaper and suspended its opinion pages editor for their reporting of and involvement in the football team's protest over shoddy working conditions overstepped their bounds in a major way. The punishments subsequently were overturned. They never should have happened in the first place.

- MICHAEL LEV

CHECK OUT OUR SPORTS COLUMNISTS

For a limited time, enjoy the Register's sports columnists' latest columns (starting with those published Sept. 17) for free:

Our airwaves are filled with sports talk. The chatter is nonstop. To distinguish yourself, you have to do something different. That’s what Rachel Nichols is striving for with her new show on CNN.

“Unguarded with Rachel Nichols,” which debuts at 10:30 p.m. Friday, aims to explore sports from a big-picture perspective. Through in-depth interviews with superstar athletes and panel discussions, the former ESPN reporter will examine why sports mean so much to so many.

“We have a different lane we get to travel in because the show is on CNN,” Nichols, who joined Turner Sports and CNN in January, said by phone this week.

“Sports shows on sports networks serve a specific audience. I did that for a long time. You’re talking to people who follow sports very avidly. News shows dip into sports nominally. Our lane is kind of in the middle of that.”

For the main feature of the premiere episode, Nichols and a camera crew accompanied LeBron James on his annual offseason trip to China. The behind-the-scenes footage includes moments both public and private with one of the world’s most famous athletes.

In a future episode, Nichols sits down with Ravens quarterback Joe Flacco to discuss, among other things, his decision to play on the same day his wife was giving birth. Nichols always has excelled at peeling away the layers with her interview subjects; her new show is called “Unguarded” because it reveals “moments that fill out who these people are – the human side of some of the most extraordinary human beings on the planet,” Nichols said.

The show’s lead producer is Kirby Bradley, who came to CNN from HBO, where he worked on “Real Sports with Bryant Gumbel,” the best sports-themed newsmagazine on television.

“He’s coming from a very smart place,” Nichols said. “That’s what we want the show to be.”

Nichols worked at ESPN for nine years, and people still ask her why she left. Her answer is simple: She had a great offer to do some really cool things somewhere else. They include covering the NCAA Tournament, the NBA and MLB playoffs and the upcoming Olympics. And, of course, creating her very own show. That wasn’t going to happen at ESPN, where the lineup is packed and the hierarchy is tough to crack.

“I loved ESPN,” said Nichols, who lives in New York with husband Max and their 2½-year-old twin daughters. “It’s nice to be able to jump from something you really like to something else you really like. That’s not an opportunity you get every day.”

CLIPPERS VS. LAKERS

The 2013-13 NBA season tips off Tuesday with a doubleheader on TNT featuring Bulls-Heat (5 p.m.) and Clippers-Lakers (7:30). A one-hour pregame show featuring the “Inside the NBA” crew of Ernie Johnson, Charles Barkley, Kenny Smith and Shaquille O’Neal airs at 4 p.m.

Reggie Miller will serve as the analyst for the Clippers-Lakers game. During a conference call this week, Miller offered his thoughts on the current gap between the L.A. franchises:

“I think they (the Lakers) will be competitive; I don’t think they make the playoffs. But it will be interesting with all the changes for the Clippers to see if this team is ready to take the next step.

“The Lakers pride themselves on championships. It’s all about those banners. That’s what separates the two. It’s about the mindset.

“I think Doc Rivers is bringing that championship mindset to a team that has underachieved for the last 20 or 30 years. We’ll see when the bright lights are on and you have to go out and beat the Spurs, Thunder and Warriors on a nightly basis. Let’s see if this team can bring it like we know the Lakers have.”

REMOTE PATROL

“Real Sports” is teaming with Marist College to launch a polling initiative to gauge national public opinion on key sports issues such as the risk of head injuries in football. … ESPN announced a multiyear contract extension with basketball analyst and reporter Doris Burke. As part of the new deal, Burke will appear on the Wednesday version of “NBA Countdown.” …

SportsBusiness Journal reports that the NBA is close to finalizing agreements with Fox and NBC that would allow live games to be streamed locally. That’d be a boon for fans of the Clippers; 73 of their games are slated for Prime Ticket or Fox Sports West. Lakers games on Time Warner Cable SportsNet already are streamed via the TWC SportsNet app. … The Pac-12 Networks’ TV Anywhere technology is now available to AT&T U-verse subscribers. …

In his always excellent College Hotline blog, Jon Wilner of the San Jose Mercury News has an interesting breakdown on how Fox is juggling Pac-12 football games and how it might not be good for the conference. The Big 12 again is featured on “big” Fox this week, while the Pac-12 game between Cal and Washington airs on Fox Sports 1. …

The MMQB.com’s superb series on head trauma in football includes Richard Deitsch’s piece on TV’s role in reporting the story and whether the audience is developing “concussion fatigue.” … Staging two NFL games on Thursday nights isn’t likely to happen, but expanding the package to 16 games and dividing it between NFL Network and a cable entity to be determined – as SportsBusiness Daily reported and others have suggested – makes a ton of sense. …

Ratings were up 13 percent and viewership 18 percent for Game 1 of the World Series, thanks in large part to monster numbers in Boston, St. Louis, Providence, R.I., and Hartford, Conn. … Ever wonder why the audio quality is so good on Fox’s playoff baseball broadcasts? The network has mounted approximately 200 microphones in each ballpark. …

Fox’s Jimmy Johnson, speaking from experience, had some strong words for Jim Irsay in the wake of his comments about Peyton Manning winning only one championship with the Colts: “Just because a guy’s got money and owns an NFL team doesn’t make him smart. You don’t trash an icon.” … Influential NBC NFL analyst Cris Collinsworth has joined the chorus calling for Washington owner Daniel Snyder to change the team’s nickname.

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